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Ed Reed Suspension Lifted

What do you guys think about Ed Reed getting out of his suspension and getting a reduced fine. The appeal process never worked when James Harrison tries it but now all of a sudden Ed Reed gets off the hook....

Chill man! There is not thread topic on the lifting of his suspension. And I bet many of us have something to say. As do I:

I am glad they lifted it. He should not have been fined or suspended. The lifting of the suspension does perplex me. Why him, why now, and how will this play out for future appeals? Does the league even put out any information regarding their decision? The ivory tower of Goodell does not like to explain themselves at all.

Originally Posted by steelchamp204

Who gives a ****, this is a Steelers forum. Plus, we already have a thread on this.

I have always maintained that many of these "illegal hits" are just products of the dynamics of the play. The league expects players to make decisions during a tackle in fractions of a second. When levying fines they get the benefit of advancing a play frame by frame. In most cases it is just a matter of fractions of an inch where the defender of the receiver shifts just slightly, and as a result, a helmet-to-helmet hit occurs. Defenders have no control on how a receiver will react to being tackled.

To say that Reed's hit was an intentional helmet-to-helmet hit is wrong (not that you did). It was just the way the play developed. I know Reed did not intend for that to happen. Him and Clark are buddies as a matter of fact and I think Clark forgave him publicly.

And this lifting of his suspension makes this fiasco even more perplexing. These rules seem to be applied ad hoc. Like I said: Why now? Why with Reed? Why on this particular play? Has the league given any explanation? How will this affect future appeals? Is this a shift in application of the rule?

It is not like Reed stomped on somebody's head. My reasoning is that I think the league is starting to realize what I said, these penalties are not blatant and flagrant fouls, but accidents that just happen. I am not happy per se that Reed's suspension was lifted, but rather I am happy this might be the beginning of more rational approach to helmet-to-helmet incidents. Of course until the next one, when the league does something totally different and we are left scratching our heads. Again.

Originally Posted by connecticutsteel

why would you be glad they lifted his suspension oh i know so he can hit one of our players illeagaly again

Lifting the suspension was the right move. Assessing a fine was more borderline in this case.

I don't like it, but it's the rule. Anytime the defender's helmet hit's the offensive helmet, it's a 15 penalty. A lot of times, the offensive player puts his head down to brace for the impact (which looked like the case here.) There's nothing the defender can do in that case.

There have been other cases that were very egregious and players launching themselves at the other players head (Ryan Clark does that), but that's not the case here. Over turning the suspension was the right move in this case, even though Reed has a history.